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Mullin Museum to unveil 'new' Bugatti Type 64 at The Quail

August 6, 2012

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The Mullin Automotive Museum will unveil a new body for Jean Bugatti's 1939 Bugatti Type 64 Coupe at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering on Aug. 17. The Mullin is a Southern California museum devoted to the preservation of French art and automobiles from the art deco era.

Chassis No. 64002 was never finished by Bugatti due to his death, which occurred during the road test of a Bugatti Type 57. The car's appearance at the Quail will mark the first time in history that Bugatti's final chassis will wear the proper sheetmetal.

The Mullin Automotive Museum joined forces with Steward Reed Design and Automobile Metal Shaping of Kimball, Mich., for the build. The group used many techniques dating from 1939 including hand-forming the body, which you can see in the pictures above. Period-correct features like papillon doors and riveted body structure were included. The hands-on part of the build started in April 2011, though the museum had the car years earlier.

The build was an important project for chairman Peter Mullin.

“We've dedicated much of our efforts at the museum to honor the Bugatti family and the marque, but never have we done something of this scale,” Mullin said. “I cannot imagine a greater token of respect to the Bugatti family than to help finish Jean Bugatti's beloved final masterpiece.”

Those who can't make it to the Quail can check out the finished car at the museum this fall, along with several other prewar coachbuilt automobiles.

Monterey car week is packed with car shows, vintage racing and car auctions. Autoweek will be there providing streaming photo galleries and live coverage of the Pebble Beach Concours, historic racing at Laguna Seca, the Monterey car auctions and plenty more. Go to autoweek.com/pebblebeach for complete coverage and live updates.